Syrian troops repel rebels' attack on gunship

• Troops repelled the armed rebels who tried to attack a Syrian helicopter gunship in al-Raqqa.

• Al-Ekhbaria TV reported clashes between the armed rebels and government troops in Deir al-Zour.

• Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said local councilor of Aleppo city was killed by rebel fighters.

DAMASCUS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Armed rebels tried on Sunday to attack a Syrian helicopter gunship in the northeastern province of al-Raqqa when its crew members responded and killed many of the assailants, a pro-government TV said.

The helicopter had to land 15 km away from the al-Thawra military airport in that area due to a malfunction, al-Ekhbaria TV said, adding that the gunmen tried to attack the gunship but they were repelled by the troops.

The TV also reported clashes between the armed rebels and government troops in the vicinity of the central prison of the eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Sunday, adding that many armed men were killed during the clashes.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London- based activists' group, said that the local councilor of the city of Aleppo, Ibrahim Azooz, was killed on Saturday by rebel fighters along with his wife and daughter.

The Observatory on Sunday posted on its Facebook a video footage purporting to show Azooz lying dead in an alley in the Sheik Saeed district.

It also posted a video showing the rebels executing four young men on charges of having connections with the Syrian security forces and the killing of a rebel fighter.

Another video posted by the Observatory showed bodies being pulled out from a destroyed building in what the network said was a result of a bombardment by the Syrian army on al-Ansari al- Sharqi district in Aleppo.

However, pro-Syrian government online news websites said the building was destroyed when armed rebels tried to target a Syrian war jet with a rocket that missed the target and slammed the building at al-Ansari and killed many of its residents.

Yet, neither report could be independently verified.

Blasts and attacks have become daily routines in Syria that has been gripped by a 22-month-old crisis that left more than 60,000 people killed amid faltering efforts for peace, according to UN figures.

DAMASCUS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country is capable of repulsing any aggression that might target its people thanks to the strength of its military and the awareness of its people, according to the state-media.

Assad made the remarks during his meeting Sunday with the head of Iran's supreme national security council, Saeed Jalili, who set foot in Damascus a day earlier for talks with Assad and top officials about the recent Israeli airstrike that targeted a Syrian military research center last Wednesday.Full story

DAMASCUS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army is poised to launch a wide-scale operation in the eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus, local media said Sunday.

The pro-government al-Watan newspaper said that the operation starts from Hran al-Awamid town near the international airport of Damascus, adding that the town witnessed over the past two days a large deployment of the Syrian army following the "infiltration of hundreds of gunmen into the town to block the international airport's runway and later surround the entire airport amid threats to target civilian planes as an attempt to paralyze air traffic to Damascus."Full story

DAMASCUS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The leader of Syria's main opposition coalition in exile, Moaz al-Khatib, said Wednesday that he is ready to hold talks with representatives of the Syrian administration in a bid to "curb the bloodshed of Syrians" and to prepare for a transitional period for the conflict-ravaged country.

Al-Khatib's surprising remarks were cited from his Facebook page, in which he said he is "prepared to sit down directly with representatives of the Syrian regime in Cairo, Tunis or Istanbul."Full story